Steve Borthwick’s England beat Japan 34-12 at Stade de Nice despite a somewhat shaky start.
Tries from Northampton Saints duo Lewis Ludlam and Courtney Lawes, Leicester Tigers’ Freddie Steward,and Stade Francais’ Joe Marchant saw England end the match with a bonus point.
George Ford, England’s hero in the first match against Argentina, opened the scoring in Nice with a penalty in the fourth minute.
Japan’s Rikiya Matsuda drew them level in the 15th minute with a penalty of his own, and then took them ahead with a second minutes later.
Ludlam scored the first England try of the match, and of the World Cup, with his score in the 24th minute as they capitalised on a loose ball from the lineout. Ford added the conversion to take the score to 10-6.
Matsuda moved Japan to within a point with another penalty on 32 minutes, but Ford swiftly followed 10 minutes later at the end of the first half to take the half time score to 13-9.
Matsuda scored the first points in the second half with another penalty, again moving the gap between the two sides to within a point. Lawes scored England’s second try 56 minutes into the match after collecting the ball which had bounced off team-mate Joe Marler’s head to score under the posts. Ford added the easy conversion and the score stood at 20-12.
Japan failed score in the time that remained despite having a few chances, but England’s Steward added to their lead with a try in the corner after collecting a pinpoint cross-field kick from Ford, who subsequently converted.
Marchant scored the all-important fourth try to give England the bonus point under the South of France sky, and Ford had the final word with the conversion to take the final score to 34-12 for Borthwick’s side.
Be the first to comment